Friday, January 13, 2012

Gil Tippy

Autism Light #124 is Dr. Gil Tippy.

Dr. Gil Tippy is from Long Island, New York. He is the founder and Clinical Director of the Rebecca School in New York. He also operates a private clincial practice in Oyster Bay, New York. Dr. Gil Tippy is an Autism Light because of his instrumental role in helping children with autism at the Rebecca School and for being an influential author and proponent of the DIR teaching method.

Education: Dr. Gil Tippy received his Doctoral Degree in Psychology (PsyD) from Long Island University. The late Dr. Stanley Greenspan mentored Dr. Gill Tippy. Dr. Tippy also has a teaching certificate in New York as a Secondary English Teacher. The following is a video of Dr. Gil Tippy sharing his professional experience.

Rebecca School: Dr. Gil Tippy is the Clinical Director of the Rebecca School. The Rebecca School is a 60,000 square foot state of the art school for children with autism located in New York City and operated by MetSchools, Inc. The Rebecca School currently enrolls over 100 students ages 4 to 21 years and it is the fulfillment of a life goal of Dr. Gil Tippy to operate a school for children with autism.

Respecting Autism: Dr. Gil Tippy is the co-author of the book Respecting Autism. The late Dr. Stanley I. Greenspan also wrote the book. The feature of the book includes 16 case studies of students at the Rebecca School. In each case the Rebecca School's program and game plan is listed and then Dr. Greenspan makes recommendations to the Rebecca School for treatment of the specific child. The book was published in 2011 and was the first book printed by MetSchools Publishing. The website for the book is at www.respectingautism.com. In the introduction to the book, Dr. Gill Tippy writes about his methodology in this way:

I want to be on the side of this debate that respects children. That treats children in the way that loving parents have treated children since man first walked upright. I want to be on the side of this debate that believes that children have feelings and thoughts, and that those feelings and thoughts are at least as valid as the feelings and thoughts of any adult. I want to be on the side of the debate that asks children what they want, that asks permission before we wipe a child's nose, that does not rush. (Page 8).

Social Media: You can follow the work of Dr. Gil Tippy, Rebecca School, and the Respecting Autism book on the following social media areas.

Special thanks to Dr. Gil Tippy for building the Rebecca School into a place where lives of children with autism can be changed. Dr. Gil Tippy is an Autism Light for the shining city known as New York.

Note: Dr. Gil Tippy and the Rebecca School utilize the DIR teaching method for children of autism, which was promoted by the late Dr. Stanley Greenspan. This is an alternative method to ABA, which has been shared previously on the Autism Light blog (See this link to Autism Light's Spotlight on ABA). Many people use ABA exclusively, some like Dr. Tippy use DIR exclusively, and others use a combination of both ABA and DIR treatments. Autism Lights come from both DIR and ABA orientations and it is hoped that readers will take from these stories what they feel is most helpful to their situation.

Autism Light honors diverse heroes to the world of autism.Photo: The photo in this post is used with the permission of Dr. Gil Tippy's representative.